STAMFORD -- Black and Hispanic city leaders are organizing to encourage members of their communities to respond to the federal government's decennial census this spring.

Community advocates say ensuring an accurate count is vital to securing government aid to minority groups, including federal funding for education, housing and programs such as the National School Lunch program, which provides free or reduced-cost lunches to low-income families.

The information the census collects helps to determine how more than $400 billion of federal funding each year is spent on infrastructure and services such as hospitals, schools, job training centers, senior centers, emergency services and public works projects including bridges and tunnels, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The census also determines the number of congressional seats assigned to each state, and play a role in the drawing of congressional districts.

The committee and other Stamford groups, including the city's branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, have agreed to work with the U.S. Census Bureau, and have already started outreach efforts. Guevara said HPAC, a nonpartisan get-out-the-vote group, has spoken at churches, community centers and schools.

The NAACP is gearing up for a census education event at the Yerwood Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 18. The event will feature giveaways from the U.S. Census Bureau, a voter registration drive and lunch for seniors and those who participate in Stamford's annual Martin Luther King Day march from Bethel AME Church to the Yerwood Center, said Jack Bryant, president of the NAACP Stamford branch.

"Our motto is `Get in on the count,' " Bryant said.

Census forms should arrive in mailboxes in early March, according to Stacey Serrano of Gov. M. Jodi Rell's Complete Count Committee. The deadline for returning the forms is April 1, but census officials are likely to allow leeway in accepting responses after that date, Serrano said. In late April, census workers will begin canvassing addresses that have not responded.

Black and Hispanic leaders said unique concerns within their communities have prevented accurate counts in the past. Illegal immigrants or immigrants who work without a permit are often wary that census information will be shared with federal immigration agencies, Guevara said. In addition, some African Americans, especially men, fear that census information will be shared with law enforcement agencies, Bryant said.

"We haven't been represented in the numbers in the past census," Bryant said. "So we're going to focus on making sure that they get counted."

Bryant and other community leaders emphasize that census information is confidential and cannot be shared among government agencies. Federal law prohibits the sharing of personal information gathered in the census.

Outreach volunteers point out that the census form is easy to fill out. This year's form contains 10 questions. The forms are available in 106 languages, including Spanish, Haitian Creole, Russian, Polish, Hindi and Urdu.

Guevara said the Hispanic Political Action Committee is planning to work with the Stamford Partnership and volunteers to ensure that immigrant populations, including day laborers, fill out the forms.

In Connecticut, urban areas as a whole are undercounted, according to Sheila Torres of the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2000, Stamford had a response rate of 66 percent, lower than Waterbury's, at 70 percent, but higher than the rates in Danbury, 57 percent; New Haven, 52 percent; and Hartford, 46 percent. Norwalk came in at a final count of 69 percent. By comparison, towns such as Wilton and Trumbull reached counts above 80 percent.

Torres said census takers will be persistent in their efforts to get an accurate count this year.

"If you do not respond to the first form, you are going to get a second one. If you do not respond to the second form, someone is going to call you. If you do not respond to the call, someone is going to come to your house," Torres said.

Staff Writer Magdalene Perez can be reached at 203-964-2240 or magdalene.perez@scni.com.